Bar Council of Ukraine demands that illegal searches of the lawyers are ceased

20.07.2016

The Bar Council of Ukraine demands that violations of rights of the lawyers are immediately ceased and reiterates that the following actions are unacceptable: interference of law enforcement in the activity of the lawyers, equating the lawyer to their client, and conduction of searches and other investigative actions with respect to lawyers.

The aforementioned demands are laid down in the address of the Bar Council of Ukraine, which has been adopted earlier today at the extraordinary meeting of the Bar Council. This address has been adopted due to recent searches of the lawyers and public statements concerning the preparations for a new round of searches.

In particular, the Bar Council demands that violations of the principle of the presumption of innocence with regard to lawyers are ceased.

According to the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine, the Bar Council underscores that searches and other investigative actions with respect to lawyers can be carried out only when there are legitimate reasons to do so and shall be subject to the requirements of the Convention, the Constitution of Ukraine, the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Code, the Law “On bar and advocacy”.

Appropriate address of the Bar Council will be forwarded to the international bar associations and national advocacies of other countries.

“It’s a shame that instead of showing its professionalism and diligence in fighting corruption, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau is boasting about its contempt of law and blatant impunity. This recently established institution has taken outrageously aggressive stance with regard to the lawyers by turning them into a tool of interdepartmental struggle”, the Bar Council statement reads.

Also the Bar Council points out that results of the discussion on the issue demonstrate complete lack of understanding of its scale on the part of MPs: “ It’s not just a local issue and the Council does not interpret it as an isolated case during a singular pre-trial investigation. We’re talking about a challenge for the advocacy as a whole”.

The Bar Council also expects to have full support on the appeal addressed to the Head of the Verkhovna Rada and the group of MPs with a lawyer status that demands to establish an interim investigative commission in the Verkhovna Rada.